University unveils first renderings of Downtown Playhouse

The new plans for the $74 million Pittsburgh Playhouse downtown will call for the a removal of the historical facade of three buildings on Forbes Avenue. A 92,000 square foot addition will be installed, however, the designs of the three facades are promised to be incorporated within the building’s courtyard. Photo by Connor Mulvaney

Point Park University President Paul Hennigan points to sections of the interior of the Pittsburgh Playhouse on a map projection during an unveiling of the performing arts center’s new construction plans. The event took place in the Lawrence Hall Ballroom on Dec. 4 and was attended by Pennsylvania Representative Jake Wheatley, president and CEO of Highmark Health David Holmberg, Academy Award-winning actress Shirley Jones and chief executive officer of the PNC Financial Services Group Inc., William S. Demchak.
Photo by Matt Nemeth

Shirley Jones, well known for her successful career in film and stage productions, attended and spoke during the announcement. Jones, who worked at the Pittsburgh Playhouse as a youth after earning a scholarship, praised Point Park students for their confidence and knowledge in the arts. Photo by Matt Nemeth

Point Park unveiled its plans for the new Playhouse Thirsday and will begin construction next spring on the $74 million theater and education compound to add to the ongoing growth of its urban campus.

“Today we are here to celebrate the next chapter in the Academic Village,” President Paul Hennigan said in Thursday’s press conference.

The multi-million dollar facility will be along Forbes Avenue and Fourth, and connect to both the University Center and the Stock Exchange building.

“We are excited because the design of the building aligns with the mission. The old Playhouse building has been held together by duct tapes,” Vice President and Artistic Director Ronald Allan-Lindblom said.

The Pittsburgh Playhouse started in the 1930s as a community theater organization hosting shows such as Burlesque. It began to face hard times, and in 1968 Point Park took it over to begin the nationally acclaimed theater and dance programs.

Being the only Point Park-owned building in Oakland, hundreds of students shuttled from downtown academic classes to their performing arts education for the past forty years.

The Downtown Pittsburgh Playhouse is set to open in 2017 to replace the Oakland facility.

“I will always miss it because I grew up in it,” actress Shirley Jones said, “but it was falling apart.”

Jones began her career at the Playhouse Theater School in 1952.

The new 92,000-square foot facility will be one of the main learning as well as performing buildings for the Conservatory of Performing Arts’ (COPA) 700 students. It will provide three performance spaces, a 560-seat thrust theater with an orchestra pit and two flexible studio theaters. There will also be rehearsal studios, dressing rooms, a large space designed for construction of sets and costumes, and an 11,147-square foot sound stage for cinema arts programs.

It will assimilate two Point Park-owned historic structures and requires the removal of buildings 320, 322, and 330 Forbes Avenue. The former Colonial Trust Company building that is now the University Center and the Fourth Avenue Pittsburgh Stock Exchange will serve as a café, and Hennigan assured the city that it will include three historical Forbes Avenue facades to the walls on the courtyard.

The University raided $45 million so far including $14 million from the University, Board of Trustees, and campaign leaders, $18 million in gifts from PNC and Highmark Health, $5 million granted by the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, and $8 million from outside foundations. And an additional $10 million is anticipated from proceeds of intended sales of the Oakland Playhouse as well as pending gifts.

Point Park launched on the December 4 press conference a capital campaign to raise the remaining $20 million to complete the project.

The design of the complex was done by Cleveland-based architecture firm Westlake Reed Wesoksky.

Point Park Globe

Point Park Globe

Point Park Globe

University unveils first renderings of Downtown Playhouse

Point Park Globe

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